


To Understand

by OdeyPodey



Series: Character Studies [3]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Farm Lesbians, Fluff, S m o o c h, Tell me to stop writing them pls, actually don't
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:14:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26182477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OdeyPodey/pseuds/OdeyPodey
Summary: Vanya wakes up at night, finding a certain distressed woman up as well- o r -A relationship study between Vanya and Sissy
Relationships: Sissy Cooper/Vanya Hargreeves
Series: Character Studies [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1898212
Comments: 1
Kudos: 50





	To Understand

Vanya had somewhat been asleep, or at least that’s what she’d been telling herself. The faint sounds of Sissy and Carl arguing echoed it’s way down the hall. She stayed in her spot, wrapped in the blankets, her eyes locked with the wall. She was trying to drown it out, to pretend that he hadn’t been off drinking and was upset to find Sissy awake when he got home. Trying to pretend that it wasn’t her own fault, like she hadn’t made the ever present tension tighter. Trying to pretend that the sounds of a collapsing marriage existed somewhere that wasn’t on their farm.

At least pretending allowed Vanya to ignore the sound of the car engine outside, to ignore the plea issued by Sissy, begging him to come back inside. She sat up finally, looking towards the window. The bright headlights broke through the tightly drawn curtains as he backed out. Her hand came up to shield her eyes. Once the light had passed she climbed out of bed as quietly as she could. First, she made her way to the window, pulling open the curtain only to catch the headlights take shelter behind a tree. The red glow fading away before disappearing into the black. She finally turned, heading towards the door. Her hand lingered on the knob for a moment too long. She couldn’t tell if the hesitation was her second guessing herself or waiting for some sort of sign to leave her room. 

The sounds of the porch door slamming was what finally drew her out. Vanya made her way towards the living room, finding herself standing at the end of the pitch black hallway in no time. Her hand had been placed on the wall, leading her so she wouldn’t bump into anything. The other fidgeted with the hem of her pants. She could just barely see Sissy standing in the living room, eyes locked with something outside. A hand rested on her chest as if she were trying to confirm she was still alive. Vanya could see the sadness in her eyes, the distant gaze of an argument put on hold for another time and another place. 

“Sissy?” She shuffled towards her, eyes never breaking from the figure. “Everything alright?” 

It took Sissy a moment. A moment to register she was really standing in the living room. A moment to realize he’d left. Vanya watched her, waiting for that flicker of recognition that always appeared in Sissys eyes whenever she heard her voice, turning to face her. 

“Yeah. Yeah everythings fine.” Sissy moved away from the window, all previous emotions pulled away from her and immediately replaced with an air of chipperness. A forced smile tugged at the corners of her lips. 

“You sure?” Vanya stepped towards her. “It didn’t sound fine.”

“Of course.” Her eyes drifted back to the window, the smile disappearing from her once more. Her eyes grew sad, a look of longing somewhere hidden behind her lashes. 

Silence fell between the two as they stood there, words unspoken lingered in the air. Vanya watched Sissy, her head tilted ever so slightly. She sighed and moved towards her.

“Come on.” Her voice was quiet, sensitive. She was trying to gauge what the other needed in that moment, placing a hand on the back of her arm. “Let’s get back to bed. Okay?”

Sissy didn’t respond, and Vanya didn’t expect her to. She just nodded, allowing Vanya to lead her down the hallway. 

“You know, Sissy,” Vanya whispered. “You don’t always have to put on an act.”

“An act?” Sissy laughed quietly, the sound causing the others heart to flutter, looking up at her. However, Sissy never looked back. Her eyes were locked in front of her, a smile danced on her lips. “It’s never been an act. It’s all real. All of it.”

Vanya pushed the door to Sissys bedroom open, moving into the room only to get jolted back when the other never moved. She looked back to her again.  
“It’s always been real, Vanya.” She looked down to her. 

“That wasn’t-” Vanya paused as she turned to her. “My point was that you don’t have to pretend to be happy with him. You can leave him. You can go be happy somewhere else.”

Sissy sighed, her smile fading. She grabbed the others hands, pulling them close to her. Vanya stood there, her heart beginning to pound at the feeling. 

“I appreciate you Vanya. I really do. And I’d love to get out of this place, I’d love to be able to escape somewhere else with someone who isn’t Carl. I really would.” She smiled a bit. “But I can’t do that to Harlan. I can’t take him away from here and force him to find a new place to get comfortable with. Force him to readjust to a life he never had in the first place-”

Sissy held the back of her hand to her mouth, eyes squeezing shut. Vanya placed a hand on her arm once more. 

“Hey.” Her voice was soft, as if she was speaking to a child. “Hey. What’s wrong?”

The moment had felt very familiar, comforting. They’d been in this position after Harlan had “drowned.” Vanya led Sissy to sit down, arms cradling the woman. Her hands rested firmly on her elbows, keeping her tight against her side. 

Yet, this time no response came from Sissy. Her quiet sobbing filled the still air, her face burying in Vanya's shoulder. She didn’t exactly know how to respond. Her heart fluttered, her stomach beginning to knot itself in anxiety. Everything in Vanya was telling her to run, to get away. She was too attached, too close. But her feet stayed planted, eyes locked with the woman in her arms. Her heart clenched, a dull ache situated itself in her side. Everytime Sissy shook, she just held her closer. Her lips pressed to her head gently. 

They sat like that, Vanya's arms around Sissys shaking form, for a while. Her lips pressed against the other’s blonde curls. The sobs never ceased. The silk nightshirt Vanya wore only could drown out so much of the heart wrenching noise. Time seemed to stop as well. The light flooding in from the moon only lit the clock enough for Vanya to make out the numbers, the arms having disappeared from their screwed on position. It was only the distant sound of an owls cry that brought Vanya back to earth. To their room. Her gaze shifted down to Sissy, a hand coming up to rub her back gently. 

“Hey,” she whispered once more. “It’s late.”

“I know.” The other made no attempt to move, head still resting on her shoulder, her face hidden away in Vanya's neck. The breath tickled the soft skin there, a chill creeping up her spine. “I know it is.”

“I can stay with you, if you’d like?” 

Sissy sat up, the lingering affection slipping away into the darkness as Carl had. She studied her, a hand subconsciously creeping up to brush Vanya's loose strands of hair off her face. Vanya leaned into the touch, Sissys warm hand lingering just behind her ear. They stared into each other, attempting to consume every small detail on the others skin. The way Sissy’s faint blush started at the tips of her ears and began spreading across her cheeks. The way her tear tracks sat on her skin, shining in the moonlight. Vanya carefully placed a knuckle to the skin, wiping them away. 

The movement had brought the two closer, Vanya’s ever so hitched breathing brushed across the others lips. The sensation caused them to tingle. The tension from the night's prior event left them hesitant, like two positive ends of a magnet a child was forcing together. Vanya’s gaze shifted around her face before finally meeting her eyes. She could see Sissy’s eyes flicker to her lips. The other hand moved, threading into her hair on the back of her head and pulling her into a gentle kiss. Vanya went with it, her other hand coming up to cup her cheek. The kiss was calm this time, no worry someones gonna catch them like kids in a candy shop. No worries of anybody disrupting their shared moment. No judgement. No fear. Just pure bliss.

The two finally broke apart, eyes closed still. Neither dared move, not wanting to destroy the only moment they got with the other. Sissy was the first to shift however only to come closer to Vanya. 

“Wow,” She whispered.

“Wow,” Vanya responded. A smile pulled at the corners of her lips. 

Sissy leaned forward, pressing a kiss to the bridge of her nose. She began to pull her hand from the other's hair, brushing it out as she went. Vanya leaned into it, the woman’s touch soothing for her ever present migraine. 

“Carl won’t be home until morning.” Sissy’s voice was being lulled into sleep, a yawn beginning to take form. “You should stay.”

“I would like that,” Vanya whispered. “I would like that very much Sissy Cooper.”

**Author's Note:**

> Today, children, I can only offer you Vissy.  
> Tomorrow, my next chapter to AIF,B  
> -  
> I decided to post this in between cleaning my room and going to finish s2's rewatch with my mom. As my mother would call Sissy "Farm woman with bouncy hair who loves Ellen Page"  
> So, thank you mother for that one  
> -  
> Anyways, another drabble from another collab I did with my loves :D  
> Thank you for reading, stay safe, and wear your mask


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